I roll my eyes.
Funny guy….
Close Encounters of all Kinds
We pull down Pacific Hills Highway passed the swaying sea grass that seems to pacify the road. The summer air is hot and sticky, typical weather for an August afternoon. It’s still light out, but the sun is fading quickly in the west. We park in The Cliffs horseshoe driveway and walk up to the massive stained glass front doors. I once again admire their divine grandeur as an unfamiliar face exits in our direction.
“Justice,” an inviting voice says. Immediately, Justice grabs my left hand and draws me in close to his body, like there is some sort of sudden danger. The alarm of his touch unconsciously spurs me to wrap my free hand around his forearm.
“Pence,” Justice answers, greeting the boy with a clasp of his hand. “Leaving so soon?”
I survey the new face. He doesn’t look like a Seraph. His skin is a pale white and his iris’ a ripe strawberry red. His dark wavy hair is pulled up in a high ponytail and when he smiles, his pearly eye teeth are a little too sharp for my liking. His energy feels foreign, like it’s on a higher frequency. It’s smooth and inviting just like his voice. I’ve never experienced anything quite like him before. I peak over Justice’s shoulder for a better look.
“And who is this?” Pence asks with a wandering eye.
“This is Liv.” Justice answers, pulling me closer to him.
“Nice to meet you.” I say behind Justice’s block.
“Where are you going?” Justice inquires.
“To get dinner.” He gazes at us with chilling eyes.
Pence makes my insides feel cold and lifeless, and his pulse reminds me of the blip you’d see on a heart-rate monitor, slow and controlled, never flailing.
“It was nice to meet you Liv,” Pence says as he walks towards the street, his tone enticing, like he wants me to follow. Justice grabs his arm just before he’s out of reach.
“Guy, your contacts.”
Pence gives him a reminded look. “Right, I almost forgot.” He pulls out a small contact case from his pocket and swiftly pops two dark-brown lenses into his eyes. “It’s still light out,” he grins with his unusual teeth and walks away. I’m not exactly sure what has just gone on, but I know it isn’t normal, but then again, nothing in this house is normal.
I squeeze my eyebrows together at Justice, and before I can ask any questions, he’s giving me answers.
“Vampire.” He says.
“No way!” I look out into the street in Pence’s direction, but he’s gone.
“I know how much you wanted to meet one.” He jokes.
“Will he hurt me?” I bat my eye lashes incredulity at him, “I kind of got the impression you put your guard up when you saw him coming.” Our hands are still clutched together, and our bodies are still standing tantalizing close.
“Um,” he drops my hand realizing exactly what I’m talking about. “No, there’s no danger, Pence is half human, which means he has a soul, and in turn a conscience. So he only feeds off the human he keeps alive in his basement.”
“What?” I look up at him horrified.
“Liv,” Justice looks down at me with hysterical laughing eyes. “He lives off donated blood.”
I fold my arms annoyed. “You know; you’re a jerk.” I hate that he revels in my gullibility.
A vampire with a soul? “I suppose next you’re going to tell me he’s in love with a Slayer?” I say sarcastically.
“Oh God no,” Justice replies. “Not his type at all. Slayers are vile, uncivilized creatures, nothing like the image you have in your head.”
I don’t know whether to believe him or not, so I decide to throw a blank look in his face to keep him from getting any more entertainment at my expense.
We walk through the ethereal foyer where fiery serpents slither above our heads, and out the French doors off the kitchen. As soon as we get outside I am immediately attacked by a dark energy, it nearly blinds me, as if a blackout flickered in my head.
“Oh!” I cover one of my eyes with my hand. My vision quickly repairs and I scan the yard for the source of the disturbance. Broadcasting from across the infinity pool is a small being standing close to Derrin. I have never seen or felt anything with such impart energy before.
Her frame is petite, but her presence immense. She has on a black leather corset and faded blue jeans. Her dark hair is cut in a short punky style, and her hazel eyes follow the direction of her pointy ears. Her interior feels like a bounty hunter on speed, and she is highly aware of everything around her, including me.
“What is she?” I ask Justice mystified, my eyes pasted to her.
“She is Melenia, and she is highly sensitive. Don’t stare.” He pulls at my arm.
“Is she one of you?”
“No, she’s not; she’s a pixie.”
I stop dead in my tracks. “Did you just say a Pixie?”
First a vampire, now a pixie? What’s next, unicorns and leprechauns?
“What kind of pixie wears leather?” The only image I can muster is Tinkerbelle.
“The bad-ass kind,” he replies. “Derrin saved her from an eternal hole a few years back, and they’ve been together ever since.”
“Eternal hole?”
“Ya, it’s a hole you fall down forever, an agonizing fate for an immortal like her.” He says as he drags me across the stamped cement patio towards Aayden and Jocelyn.
“Hi Liv!” A sweet voice greets me. Jocelyn is setting a long beveled table decorated with a sandy centerpiece scattered with dozens of white tea lights and dried seashells. Behind her Aayden cooks in an outdoor kitchen that would envy Bobby Flay.
“That looks like more than just burgers and dogs.” I observe.
“It always is when Aayden cooks.” Jocelyn tells me. I take a closer look at the assortment of seafood, steak and vegetables he is masterly cooking over the open flame.
“Whatever it is it looks delicious.”
“Thanks,” Aayden smiles. “Cooking is one of my passions. I studied at the American Institute in New York some years back and at the French, Culinary Institute in Paris,” he says me as he bastes. “I even apprenticed under Julia Child for a short time.” He beams. “But I had to cut that short; she was interested in more than just butterfly cuts and marinades, if you know what I mean.” He winks one of his sparkly green eyes at me.
I totally know what he means; I wonder if Aayden smelled as good to Julia, I imagine chocolate soufflé, as Justice does to me. That poor woman was probably taken by storm and woke up in a mess of butter and flour before she even knew what it her. I know firsthand the effect the Seraph’s have on the everyday kind of girl.
“Wait until you taste his desserts!” Jocelyn adds, “to die for.”
I am curious though, “If you don’t have to eat, why go through all the trouble?” I ask Jocelyn hoping no one notices the sound of my rumbling stomach.
She laughs. “We like to eat, even though we don’t have to, it’s only Justice, who doesn’t. He marches to the beat of his own drum.”
“And that’s just how I like it.” He says as he walks towards the stainless steel cooler in the middle of the patio.
He turns back and asks if I want something to drink, he sticks his hand into the icy water to fish out a beer, not noticing Derrin do the exact same thing. They grab the same bottle and immediately their bodies became defensively tense. Justice snaps his head back stiffening his fist. I worry he is going to shatter the bottle right in his hand. Derrin doesn’t back off as get caught up in an intense stare. It’s painfully obvious these two have issues. Justice finally surrenders the beer; Derrin smirks a condescending smile and walks away.
Sharply, Justice turns his head towards me, his eyes smoldering, “Do you want anything or not?” He snaps. I frown “no” I say jarringly and turn my attention back towards Aayden and Jocelyn. I hate it when he’s curt.
“Don’t mind them,” Jocelyn tells me, “they act like hormonally raging tee
nagers sometimes.”
A moment passes before I feel a cold sensation streak down my bare arm. I look up at Justice annoyed, my arms crossed. He holds up a beer as a peace offering with rueful eyes, but I refuse it. “Sorry,” he whispers, his sweet breath brushing across my neck. It takes all the strength I have not to cave and forgive him that second. But I’m not going to put up with being a door mat. It seems I’m not the only one who needs to find some emotional boundaries.
“Liv please,” he whispers earnestly.
I exhale brashly and grab the Corona remotely. “I hate it when you talk to me like that,” I say sharply intending to send a message.
“I’ll try harder.” He says tenderly sincere.
“I’ll forgive you this time,” my tone is lighter. Besides, how can I stay mad at him when he looks at me like that?
During the first sip of my peace offering, I’m struck with a piercing pain right through my heart. As if it just shattered like crystal dropped against cement. I clutch my chest and hunch over in pain; grasping the edge of the table for support. Burning tear’s stream down my face as my breath is cut short.
“Liv!” Justice grabs me with alarm. I look in the direction the interference is coming from, but I can only see a dark figure sliding through the French doors. I gasp for air, trying to control the heartbreak that is playing pinball in my chest.
“Hold on,” Justice presses his hand between my shoulder blades eliminating the calamity. I immediately suck in the wind that has just been knocked out of me. My insides calm like one of those water walls you find at a spa. I look at Justice with distressed tear soaked eyes.
“I thought I was going to get a night off of emotional disturbances?!” I say wiping my face. If I knew I was going to be subjected to a supernatural decathlon I would have most definitely stayed home. “Who was that?”
“A.J.” Justice answers, “A brethren.”
“Liv, are you ok?” Jocelyn asks as she helps to steady me.
“To be honest, I’m a train wreck” I say matter-of-factly. “Pixies, vampires and suffering Seraphs, I’m having close encounters of all kinds.”
***
We ate under the sunset as puffs of pink and orange cotton candy clouds hover over a fiery ocean. I can’t help but admire its splendor. There’s nothing more beautiful than a painted summer’s twilight.
Dinner restored some of my liveliness. Aayden’s Mahi-mahi with herbed white wine sauce was incredible, not to mention his flank steak with Chimichurri dressing and grilled scallops with honeydew avocado salsa. It was a five-star meal. Jocelyn wasn’t lying when she said his desserts were to die for. The grilled lemon pound cake with peaches and cream tasted like Ambrosia in my mouth. I was truly in culinary heaven. Justice didn’t eat a morsel; he just enjoyed one Corona after the next completely content with his liquid dinner.
Melenia and Derrin ate on the other side of the pool away from the rest of us. They reminded me of two aloof cats who couldn’t be bothered with their owners company.
During dinner Jocelyn and Justice gave me the lowdown on A.J. and why his heart is so broken. He was in love with a witch named Persephone, who was killed in a car accident ten years ago. There was nothing supernatural about it, just your random tragic accident. A.J was away hunting at the time. He blames himself for not being there to save her and sadly; she died alone. Her death was slow and painful, as her car fell into a ravine off the California coastline; apparently, it took several days for anyone to find her.
It was a heart-wrenching story.
I can’t help but weigh A.J.’s tragic love story against Cross’. The pain is so fresh, like it’s not affected by time at all. All I keep hearing are those grave words Cross spoke, ‘it has an expiration date.’ Leaving me to wonder why anyone would subject themselves to such heartbreak knowing full well the outcome. It seems like predetermined torture if you ask me. And yet, when I’m near Justice and we have those awkward moments, my rationalizations get sliced right down the middle as if I were giving myself a paper cut. Somehow he manages to distort all my senses even with Cross’ words echoing inside my head. How do you love someone unconditionally when all you can hear is the ticking of a clock in the background of your desire?
The question makes my mind feel rigid, dampening my pleasant evening.
Jayden lights a tall, glass chiminea that is set at the foot of the pools narrow walkway that leads to the hot tub inlayed in its center. The flames dance inside the glass while ember’s escape into the blackened night sky. I inspect it with wonder; it doesn’t even radiate heat. Justice watches me amused, as my mind wraps itself around the mystical structure.
“How is it doing that?” I touch a pane of glass lightly with my finger. He shrugs entertained, “magic.”
“Jayden built it; Daniel enchanted it. That’s just the way it works around here.”
“Wow!” I say amazed, although I really shouldn’t be, after materializing tea sets, blazing eyes, bullet stopping shoulders, vampires, pixies and a five-star meal Julia Child would be proud of; nothing should really surprise me at this point.
Addicted
Everyone sat around the enchanted chiminea taking in the beautiful, but hot and sticky night. Actually, I think I was the only one taking in the hot and sticky part. The strands of my ponytail are inflating with moisture as the humidity does a number on me.
A.J. didn’t come out, but Jocelyn confirmed he was still inside. I was glad she ordered him to repel himself from me. I was finally able to relax and enjoy myself. Although, Pence’s ogling strawberry eyes did make me fidget from time to time.
Even with all the excitement, I was secretly glad Justice bullied me out of the house. In some strange way, I feel like I belong in this weird supernatural group. It’s a feeling I’ve never experienced in the natural world. I had to keep reminding myself this was the world I was meant to be a part of. One where magic and phenomena are a usual occurrence, and my crazy erratic power is normal and not medically doused.
“Hey Derrin!” Jayden yells across the pool. “Why don’t you liven this party up!” He says with a mischievous smile, “or are you going to act like a snobby rock star all night?”
I can’t see Derrin’s face beyond the darkness until he startled me out of the shadows. He stands before us holding a Gibson Vine acoustic guitar.
“Are you sure about this?” He asks with a wayward tone and excited eyes. His left hand holding the instrument like it ached to play.
“Absolutely.” Jayden smiles.
Derrin sits down in one of the dark wicker chairs, Melenia right beside him. The glow from the chiminea lightly kissing their faces.
“Oh brother,” Justice mumbles as he folds his arms. Apparently, he isn’t looking forward to the show the way everyone else is, especially me.
Derrin looks over at Melenia and asks in an alluring tone, “What do you want to hear baby?”
“A love song.” She replies in a small pitchy voice.
Derrin rests the guitar on his knee and gently plucks at the stings. The acoustics echo sweetly through the air. He looks rock god glorious in arm cuffs and tattered jeans; his royal blue eyes sparkling from the heatless flames.
He strums the guitar seductively as if it were an apprehensive lover. Holding it gently in his hands, he releases raw energy straight from the cords. I recognize the music; it’s a song I know well. That’s a strange choice for a love song I think as I watch him finger the strings like they were an extension of his hand. He begins to sing the rock tune with a soft soothing voice that sounds like firm velvet. He pulls me in with every note.
The music then starts to amplify as if he were trying to touch the beach with his tone. He slams harder on the strings with every peak of the song. As his body becomes consumed by the melody, I can feel Melenia’s driven attraction to her supernatural lover. Her reckless desire spins inside me. Raw energy infusing the air; I can feel the music all around me, calling to me, like a siren luring a sailor. Derrin no longer sits
calmly in his seat; the acoustic sound has morphed into an electric reverberation.
“How is he doing that?” I ask Justice transfixed.
“Magic,” he shrugs indifferently. He clearly has no interest in the show.
My attention is drawn back to Derrin, who has become fully eclipsed in his rendition. He stands before us, tapping his heels, sweep picking the hooks, and head thrusting to the pulse of the modern rock song. I totally succumb to the pleasure in my ears. I am absolutely engrossed by the mesmerizing tale of the sexually combustive lovers.
I don’t know if it is the hot summer air, the alcohol, Melenia’s reckless desire or Derrin’s tantalizing love song, but it feels like someone mixed a crazy cocktail in my head, and I am not the only one who noticed. My rapid heartbeat and dry mouth were only the internal signs; I am losing my mental grip. When Justice asked me if I want another drink, he must have seen animated swirls in my amethyst eyes.
“Are you alright?” He’s overly concerned.
“Can we go for a walk?” I blurt out manically, all I know is that the sound of the waves calm me, and I need to get closer.
I hurry down the sandy walkway towards the sobering sound of the ocean. It feels like I’m possessed. I scurry into the darkness walking vigorously through the sand, kicking off my sandals somewhere behind me. My breaths are panty, as if I’ve just finished running a marathon.
“Liv, slow down,” Justice says, even though he has no trouble keeping up with my forceful walk.
“I can’t, not yet,” I say entranced.
When I finally get a grip and stop running, I plop to the ground, butt planting into the sand. It was cool by the water; the sea air dissipating the humidity. The wind is strong, and it blows a fragrant scent in our direction, one mixed of seaweed and sand. I inhale it like it’s the methadone to my heroin addiction.
“Are you ok?” Justice asks trying to keep his laughter at bay. His warped sense of humor is enjoying this.
iFeel Page 10
